Idaho Area Reopened after Black Bear Attack
SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — Officials late Wednesday morning reopened a popular hiking area in northern Idaho where a black bear with a cub attacked a 60-year-old woman and her two dogs.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Shoshana Cooper says experts determined the Tuesday morning attack to be defensive and not predatory. Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Phil Cooper says the woman was visiting the Idaho Panhandle National Forests and was hiking a trail near a visitors' center when the large bear charged, biting her head, side and abdomen. She was able to call relatives for help and they were forced to yell to scare off the animal.
She was flown to a hospital in Spokane, Washington, with injuries that were not life-threatening. Officials intended to kill the bear but called off the search because it crossed a river and they could not be sure they would find the same animal in the area packed with bears.